After my maiden flight as a passenger aboard an airplane operated by Frontier Airlines from Montego Bay to Atlanta, I booked a round trip ticket between Atlanta and Las Vegas — which was nonstop in both directions — because it was the least expensive option when including a bag to carry aboard the aircraft.
I Tried Frontier Airlines Again…
Because I did purchase to carry one bag aboard the airplane, I was automatically assigned Zone 1, which allowed me to be one of the first to board the airplane.
On the outbound flight, the Airbus A320 airplane was full of passengers almost to capacity — unlike that first flight from Montego Bay. The airplane departed from the gate fewer than 15 minutes late as the last of the passengers boarded the airplane and were directed to seats by members of the flight crew.
The female passenger who sat directly behind me was repeatedly bragging loudly on her mobile telephone to someone about how she scored two empty seats next to her — but the aforementioned delay was one of the issues which caused her to continuously bellow profanity as she complained about being late…
…and before anyone knew it, one of the last passengers to board the airplane was a grandmother and mother with her baby who sat next to the woman — and the female passenger who sat behind me was not happy at all. The husband and two young boys sat in the seats across the aisle from them.
The older of the young boys eventually screeched repeatedly off and on for at least two hours, which caused the woman behind them to yell at the father to “shut the kid up! Can’t you make him shut up?!? You can do it! Make that boy shut up!!!” Other passengers were visibly annoyed at the screaming boy.
Although neither parent was successful in quieting down their son sooner, he finally fell asleep approximately one hour before the airplane landed — to the relief of all of the passengers around him.
Meanwhile, a teenage boy sat in the aisle seat in my row. Both of his legs were shaking so wildly that I felt it from my seat next to the window on and off for approximately half of the time we were aboard the airplane. I did hear him admit to the passenger seated next to me in the middle seat that this was his first flight and he was quite nervous. I felt somewhat bad for him — but still, I felt like I had a front row seat to the San Andreas Fault line.
Despite the members of the flight crew informing passengers of all of the choices of food and beverages which were available — including meal bundles — the only snacks which were available for purchase were small bags of Cheez-It crackers and small cans of Pringles. They also did not have their full complement of beverages, either.
The airplane landed in Las Vegas approximately 30 minutes early. Unfortunately, the airplane did not arrive at the gate until almost an hour after landing because another airplane was occupying the gate which we were supposed to use. Although it was not critical, I wound up missing an appointment for dinner as a result, which was disappointing.
Return Flight to Atlanta
For the return overnight flight, I arrived early because I shared a ride with two other people. The first terminal in which the flight was to depart had only one restaurant — a Carl’s Jr. — which was open. All of the other restaurants closed early — many without warning.
The flight was moved to the other terminal on a different floor before it was moved again elsewhere in the same terminal, which was more crowded. We all sat at the gate for 45 minutes; and even though the flight would certainly be delayed because the inbound aircraft was arriving to the gate late, no notice was posted on the electronic signs.
I was originally assigned a seated in row 28 in a middle seat — I did not choose my own seat because seat assignments on Frontier Airlines cost extra money — but an announcement over the public address system at the gate requested that if anyone was seated towards the rear of the aircraft who wanted to move towards the front to please come to the counter, which I did — and I was thankfully assigned a seat by the window in row 8.
The flight attendants and pilots sat behind me and proceeded to gossip vociferously about their training on a new door on the Airbus airplane; complaining about not getting the shifts that they wanted; complaining about only having a layover of 13 hours until their next flight; and that our flight ultimately being delayed by one hour and 15 minutes would only exacerbate things. However, they were very friendly to the passengers.
Some passengers still chose to wear masks on their faces — even though wearing them is no longer required and is now optional.
Seated beside me was a family from China who was in the United States for the first time — the wife and mother said so in English — and when the airplane was landing, the father stood up to get their belongings. He apparently did not understand the admonishments in English from the the members of the flight crew for him to sit down; so his wife had to tell him — and he complied.
Otherwise, the flight itself was uneventful.
Final Boarding Call
Some aspects of the flights felt like riding as a passenger on a bus or train or some form of public transportation; but it was less expensive than the alternative commercial air carriers. The total cost for me was $451.96, which included the base flight cost and taxes and fees of $363.96 plus $88.00 to carry a bag on aboard the airplane — which is $44.00 in each direction.
Aside for the aforementioned minor issues, Frontier Airlines got the job done of transporting me in both directions between Atlanta and Las Vegas — and the airplanes were quite clean, which included the lavatories.
I really could not have asked for much more…
One again, Frontier Airlines is a viable alternative to other airlines, in my opinion — and based on this experience, I recommend Frontier Airlines as a choice of airline to consider for basic transportation with no frills. I really had nothing about which to complain and would certainly consider flying as a passenger on this airline in the future. Although the process of booking a ticket can get annoying, virtually everything pertaining to this flight went well.
My experience once again suggests to me that the gate agents are not all that restrictive about the baggage allowance.
The only question is what happens when things go wrong…
All photographs ©2021 and ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
